This is the Popular Front podcast with me Jake Hanrahan.

We're focused on the niche details of modern warfare and underreported conflict

all across the world. Popular Front is

completely independent. Today we're speaking to journalist Hugh Kinseller

Cunningham. He's out on the ground on the front lines in Congo. He's been doing a lot of work in the East and he's going to be talking to us about how the battle between Congo and the Rwanda backed M23 militia forces has

basically broken out into an all-out war. Many people are displaced, many people

are being killed, it's absolute chaos out there.

If you want to support grassroots independent conflict journalism

support us at patreon.com slash popular front.

Since we last

I've seen

since we last spoke things have definitely not got better in Congo things have got worse

you've been out on the front lines recently specifically in the east there's been a big flare-up in fighting.

Well, there already was a lot of fighting, but it's been a flare-up from what I gather.

Tell us about that. What's happening?

So at the moment the M23 conflict has just exploded on the ground.

You wouldn't know it from the amount of media Congo is actually able to attract

But the last few months have seen

Scenes in Congo which are very. So it's turned into open war. So what this means is that since

December, M23 rebels who had previously been like holding positions, small clashes in the hills, etc.

Took so much territory in isolated a city called Goma, which is the provincial capital.

And there's heavy artillery going back and forth. You've got both sides firing like

...